“My dad didn’t talk about it too much,” Dusseau says. “I’ve always liked helping people. Growing up, my brother and I always wanted to be like him; to do the right thing and not let the bad guys win.”
In fact, his twin brother, David, also became a police officer, serving for 20 years with the U.S. Capitol Police and retiring at the rank of sergeant.
At first, however, Dusseau was looking at a career in business administration. After graduating from the University of Maryland, he landed a job as a store detective. There he got to talking to the police officers on duty at the store and decided to follow in his family’s footsteps and become a cop.
His business administration degree, though, hasn’t exactly gone to waste. Dusseau often calls on that experience in his current role.
“The business training helps in a lot of little different ways,” he claims. “It helps me understand managing the rookie police officer, dealing with the numbers and the resources.”
When the NOVA chief of police job came up, Dusseau was looking for his next professional challenge. With 21 years of service and having achieved the rank of major in the Prince George’s County Police Department, he was eligible to retire, but he wasn’t ready to hang up his badge.
While he was on the Prince George’s County police force, Dusseau had worked with campus police departments, including at the University of Maryland. Being a life-long resident of the area, he also knew about NOVA. When the position opened, he figured he could make a difference and was up to policing a large multi-campus structure.
“It is an interesting form of policing,” he says. “I knew about it from working with the college police departments. I asked the people at NOVA what they were doing, and they were at the forefront of things.”
At NOVA, he is now dealing with a department responsible for protecting an institution that is the size of a small city, spread out over four counties and six towns. While that was a challenge, it was something Dusseau was ready to tackle.
“I have always had a 24/7 job,” he says. “The 24/7 thing was something I was used to. Still, I never anticipated the full scope of college policing. While we do the full range of ‘traditional’ law enforcement functions, I had to learn all about Clery and Title IX, something I never worried about in a municipal police department.”
Weinstein says it isn’t uncommon to see the chief still at his desk at 7 or 7:30 p.m. working.
“He doesn’t go home until the job is done,” he adds. “That is one of the things that all of our officers respect about him. He is on the job 24/7.”
Predictably, though, Dusseau points to his staff as the reason for the success of the department in the four years he has been at the helm.
“I’m fortunate to work with people who care about their jobs and the college’s vision,” he says. “They are good, smart people willing to work hard.”
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The Dusseau File:
- NAME: Dan Dusseau is the police chief at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). He has been the head of the department for four years. Before joining NOVA, Dusseau was a member of the Prince Georges County, Md., police department, retiring as major in 2009. He is also involved with the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy, LiveSafe Inc., Peace Officer Ministries Inc., GovSec, Leadership Prince George’s Inc., International Association of Chiefs of Police, FOP 89, International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, and Virginia Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administration.
- INSTITUTION: NOVA has six campuses, including Alexandria, Annandale, Loudoun, Manassas, Springfield and Woodbridge, as well as educational centers in Arlington, Reston, Fort Belvoir, Quantico and Manassas’ Innovation Park. It is one of the five largest community college systems in the nation. There were 78,635 students enrolled there as of 2013.
- DEPARTMENT: There are 52 sworn officers, seven dispatchers and 13 unarmed officers (a combination of NOVA staff and outsourced security). The armed officers carry Glocks.
